Welcome back. I am from Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach and flew at Mile Square quite a bit. Just U-control and Free Flight back then, couldn't afford RC at that time. Back then it was still in use by the Marines during the week and we flew there on weekends. Things have only gotten better sense those days but it isn't a lot different, just better and cheaper. You can still get the original Bridi kits from Blue Jay Models on line and the prices haven't gone up a lot. Last year {or the year before?} I built the Birdy and it's still just the same as it ever was. It's now an ARF too but I haven't gotten to fly one to compare it to the kit built plane.
If I was you I would jump on Johns offer and make the drive to fly with him. A days instruction should be all you need and it wouldn't be a bad idea to set up your Monk on a buddy box and let John have the master for your first few flights. After that you should be good to go again.